This forum question is part of our Peculiar Minds series.

Throughout preparing for the Peculiar Minds series I’ve been overwhelmed by the prevalence of mental illness. It really does effect a large majority of the population; statistics I’ve seen have put the number of people in the U.S. suffering from a mental illness as high as 50%. Think about that – it means that every person in America either suffers from a mental illness or loves someone with a mental illness, or both.

What is going on? Have there always been this many people with mental illnesses? Or is this a symptom of these hard times that are the latter days?